Combines are used all over the world to harvest many different crops. A typical combine configuration utilizes a separation or threshing system including one or more rotors partially or fully surrounded by a perforated concave, wherein threshed crop material will fall through the perforations of the concave enroute to a cleaning system operable for separating grain of the threshed crop material from material other than grain (MOG). Often, due to the combine encountering uneven terrain, such as encountered during uphill and downhill travel, the rate of discharge of this threshed crop material from the separating system to the cleaning system can widely fluctuate. For example, the rate of discharged crop material can be temporarily reduced or interrupted during downhill travel, with an opposite effect occurring during uphill travel. A significant problem that can result from uneven distribution of crop material to the cleaning system is increased grain loss resulting from overloading of regions of the cleaning system sieve or sieves.
In light of the capabilities and limitations of the apparatus discussed above for distributing crop material delivery to a cleaning system of a combine, what is sought is a system and method which allows optimizing this capability for accommodating both uneven threshing system output, and uneven terrain, particularly uphill and downhill travel conditions.